Does intermittent fasting help to lose weight?

What is intermittent fasting and what are the benefits of following this diet? See the results of this diet and learn about its advantages in our article.

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You can hear about all sorts of new eating styles emerging. The standard of beauty today is a skinny girl that is why everyone tries to fit in her image. Moreover, people that strive to keep their health condition at the highest level possible claim that diets they stick to are the healthiest. However, meet an intermittent fasting diet that can amaze even the most experienced health gurus.

This diet is not new, but it is this eating style that people claim the most efficient for weight loss and improving general health condition. That is why best-selling authors like David Zinczenko write books to introduce people to an intermittent fasting diet. His book called “The 8 Hour Diet” describes how to apply this kind of diet to burn off belly fat, reduce risks of cancer, sharpen one’s mind, and increase your strength and desire to live a happy life.

On top of that, there are numerous testimonials of people that used this diet and lost all their extra weight and feel terrific now. They state that at first, they did not believe that intermittent fasting will have such amazing results, but they decided to give it a try after individual nutrition specialists and health professionals concluded that it is something they can try. Anyway, it is easier than all the other diets promising you to help get rid of extra kilograms like eating smaller portions and more frequently.

To start our journey through the benefits of intermittent fasting let us first define what this diet really is. People that decide to follow this sort of diet only eat 8 hours a day or in the case of great determination only four hours a day. Consequently, they fast for the other sixteen to twenty hours. Does it sound like something tough? Well, do not be afraid, as you do not have to start with the extreme point of eating only four hours a day and fasting for the other twenty. It will be no good to you and a significant stress to your body.

People that are just getting familiar with this nutrition style, are advised to choose their eating/fasting schedule as follows: fast in between 8 o’clock at night and until 12 o’clock in the afternoon of the next day. This way you will be fasting for 16 hours and eat from 12 pm until 8 pm. Only when you already feel confident about the way you fats and eat during the day, you can increase the fasting time.

Increasing a time of fasting should be gradual, so add another thirty minutes to fasting every day not to cause too much stress to your body. A schedule of eating in between 12 pm and 8 pm is optimized for working people, as they need to eat during the working hours and after work to make up for the energy they invested into their work.

Concerning the food you can eat within the eating hours of intermittent fasting to achieve better results and lose weight: there are no restrictions. That is the real news of this diet: you don’t have to remember complicated scenario to follow. You can even combine this diet with other ones like Paleo diet that is on the wave of popularity right now as well.

Be sensitive to your body once you decide to follow the Intermittent Fasting: if you feel that it I sway too hard for you to stick to it, give yourself some breaks. For instance, you can fast every other day at first until your body adjusts to such a rhythm. It is a standard practice especially for people that are switching from those diets that required you to eat more than five times a day.

To lose weight with this diet make sure to eat your first meal in the amount that is typical for you. If you don’t follow this advice you will kill the benefits you could get from being careful with what you eat. While still on this topic, drink much water. Your body will require you providing it with sufficient amount of water while fasting. Therefore, get some lemons and squeeze them into your water to deal with your appetite. You are also allowed to drink coffee and tea as well as other compotes only without sugar. It might be weird for you at first especially if you are a sweet tooth, but you will get used to it with time.

You can also feel a little weak at first, so have some green tea or strong coffee now and then. But do not have too much of it, as you might get a shivering over-energized effect after you take too much caffeine. Do not buy drinks that promise to be low-calorie and harmless. To start with, they will increase your appetite, so when the eating hours come you won’t be able to stop. Even more, they are not good for your health, so stay away from them.

Be wise with your food preferences. Sure, you don’t have to count the calories, but you will agree that no good will come from eating pasta all the time or sandwiches. It’s common sense to be eating vegetables and fruit just like you would do even without fasting to improve your general health condition. Instead, you can try consuming more fish, almonds, avocados, and olive oil.

The benefits of intermittent fasting are astonishing, and they mostly have something to do with a healthy way to lose weight. When you follow an intermittent fasting, your body is learning how to store up the fat you get from the food you consume and convert it into energy in the long run instead of turning it into body fat. Moreover, the fat you already have under your skin will dissolve in the process if you stick to a diet for some time. Many influential people state that they have been using this eating style for more than several years already and are absolutely satisfied with the results.

There those who argue that intermittent fasting can be of great use to anyone. However, as the studies showed, it helps people control the levels of insulin in their bodies. It is not only the intermittent fasting that helps you keep it under control, but also healthy eating habits like avoiding food rich in fat and adding more fruits and vegetables. But it is with the help intermittent fasting that your body learns how to process food better, and convert fat into energy instead of just “saving” it under your skin.

Another benefit you should be aware of is that this sort of diet allows you to work out. Some doctors and nutritionists recommend working out several times a week. You can do strength workout to improve your physical state and get the perfect shape, as intermittent diet stimulates your body to be more flexible and gain forms faster than with other diets.

If you are afraid that fasting can lead to losing your muscle weight, then you should worry no more. This is not an extended fasting that makes your body exhausted so much that it starts “eating” muscles to get some energy. However, the muscle breaking will only start after you have eaten anything in several days which is not the case for you. This fasting is different, and it can be your ally on the way to gaining shape through workouts.

Personally speaking, I would highly recommend this diet for those of you who want to lose weight and improve health condition. Follow the tips left in this article and enjoy the great results this diet will bring!